There is something very appealing about a documentary that dares to psychologize its subject (if not to the point of the Self digression), because so many documentaries, these days, try to feign objectivity to the breaking point, even when, ala Michael Moore, their position- pro or con, is manifest from the get-go. Similarly, the personal accounts of Dean seem far more genuine than later documentaries in which interviewees seem to mug for the camera, and pull apocryphal tales out of their asses, just to get their own lousy fifteen minutes in the sun. The interviewees here are speaking contemporaneously, before Dean's legend really took off, and there is none of the deliberate or unintended fuzzing of memories towards the better angels of Dean's nature.The lone exception to this particular good quality of the film, is a scene where Altman gets the family and friends of Dean to re-enact their reactions to first hearing of Dean's death in a car crash of his Porsche on September 30th, 1955. What makes this section so poor a piece of filmmaking is the fact that earlier, we get to listen to a surreptitiously recorded 'real' conversation between Dean and his relatives, and the contrast between that and the 'scripted' parts is so great. Also, the film makes good use of the slow panning technique over still photographs that would later be used so successfully by documentarian Ken Burns. However, a caveat should be noted, and that is that the reason the technique works so well in the film is that the source photos are so intriguing. Yes, Dean comes off as a terminal narcissist, but he really did know how to strike the pose, and surround himself with photographer pals to immortalize himself.That said, the film, even at its mere 79 minutes of length, tends to wear a bit thin after the hour mark, because the reality is that Dean, despite this film's best intentions and claims, was not a particularly good actor. He was a relentless and born ham, and one need only watch Marlon Brando and Montgomery Clift, vis-à-vis Dean, to see the gulf between good and mediocre Method actors. Yet, while scenes from his films are few, there are some good passages with some of Dean's friends from New York and Los Angeles restaurants, some outtakes from films, newsreels of the opening of Giant, and a Public Service Announcement for safe driving, which more than make up for the film's deficiencies. Thus, The James Dean Story is a film and DVD worth watching, even if there are no extras, for its dated style becomes that rare quality that enhances even as it detracts. When was the last time you engaged a piece of art you could say even that of?

If you know anything about James Dean, then this movie will probably not add much to your knowledge. What we see of Dean is mainly through still photographs. Most of these are just portraits that add little to the film, but there is an occasional one that surprises, like a nice one of Dean enjoying himself in a ballet class. The scene of real interest, which is saved for the end, is from a black-and-white audition Dean did for "East of Eden."The tone of the narration would be appropriate for the biopic of a saint--you are made to think that Dean's early death was some sort of national calamity. There are several interviews with some of Dean's relatives, friends, and even some restaurant owners and taxi drivers. The depth of the questioning is often inane, such as when the interviewer asks the restaurant owners, "How was his appetite?" We watch as a previous friend rummages through a box of Dean's miscellaneous stuff like phone numbers and a note from his laundry. It seems that everything that Dean touched was sacred. We don't even get any insights from Dean's girlfriend, the one with whom, "for the first time he found the timid belief that life was possible." The most frustrating thing about this film is the narration's constant speculations about Dean's motivations and thoughts. For example, consider this, "He took his envy to the beach. He looked at the ocean and he was jealous of its power. He envied the gulls for having found each other. He envied them their freedom and their solitary flights. Suddenly he knew that as an actor he could be the ocean and flood everything with his power. As an actor he could be a gull." A good part of the movie is filled with such florid prose that has no basis in fact. Amid all of the speculations there is none about the common one of Dean's being homosexual, or bisexual. He supposedly avoided the draft by registering as a homosexual.The main question I have always had about Dean is the extent to which he manufactured his own myth of being the sensitive, misunderstood, moody, independent intellectual. This film got me no closer to answering that.

I liked this documentary THE JAMES DEAN STORY a lot when I watched it for the first time. As I had not really seen any other documentaries about Dean to compare with, it provided me with much information about the actor unknown to me at the time. When I watch it again now, I realize that there have been made several more thorough, and perhaps less speculative documentaries about James Dean since this was first released in 1957. This documentary is clearly a product of its time; Dean had tragically passed away only two years before, and one senses that the film tries to present him in a way to match the expectations of his fans. Whereas some later documentaries (and biographies) have made a point of trying to separate the man and the myth, THE JAMES DEAN story is transparently calculating at times. The narrator Martin Gabel also speaks in rather calculating (if engaging) manner, as if able to walk into Dean's soul and read his thoughts (a side-note: Marlon Brando reportedly considered doing the narration, but finally declined). This film is clearly aimed at a popular audience, who has not been constantly fed with documentaries about anything and everything through TV such as today.On the plus side, however, the documentary is not so overly concerned with Dean's status as a "Hollywood rebel" as one might expect. Much focus is also given to other aspects of his life than being a movie star, such as his interest in painting and playing the drums. Some of the interviews are also of interest; the recollections of the two bartenders whom Dean used to hang around with shed light on the cheerful, less solemn side of James Dean. The part where Dean's cousin Marcus (at that time about ten years old) reads out loud a letter he received from Dean a few months before the latter's sudden death is quite touching. Leith Stevens' jazzy soundtrack is excellent, and really fits the mood of the film. In the end, THE JAMES DEAN STORY is by all means worth to watch to anyone interested in the life and talent of James Dean, though there have been made more all-around satisfying documentaries since the time of its making. (This review has later been somewhat revised and updated)

I watched the movie because Robert Altman directed it, but I'd assumed it was going to be a straight forward documentary of Dean's life. Then about half way through it something didn't feel right. The people being interviewed spoke like they were on automatic pilot and the childhood photographs chosen for the movie had the quality of a spoof. I watched it a second time and realized it was Altman's documentary of the American Celebrity Cult, not James Dean. Our devotion to movie actors was reaching a new zenith in the 1950's and the life and death of Dean was a timely example of it. It's a movie about us in the same way Nashville is, or A Wedding, or Short Cuts.